milan lucic ended his NHL career on Sunday, announcing his retirement on his 38th birthday after 17 seasons and 1,177 regular-season games. He leaves with 586 points, a Stanley Cup ring from Boston, and a career that stretched across four teams.
Boston Set the Standard
The Bruins took Lucic in the second round with the No. 50 pick of the 2006 NHL Draft, and he made the team as a 19-year-old for the 2007-08 season. He finished that first year with 27 points in 77 games, then pushed into his peak with three seasons of at least 24 goals.
His best year came in 2010-11, when he set NHL career highs with 30 goals and 62 points. Boston capped that run by beating the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Arena, and Lucic had 12 points in 25 playoff games during the championship run.
Four Teams, One Career Arc
After Boston, he moved to the Los Angeles Kings on June 26, 2015, then signed a seven-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers on July 1, 2016. Calgary got him in a trade on July 19, 2019, and that stop delivered a notable milestone when he recorded an assist in his 1,000th NHL game on April 13, 2021.
That 1,000th game came in a 3-2 overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, a fitting marker for a player who remained in the lineup long enough to reach that round number. He later signed a one-year, $1 million deal to return to Boston on July 1, 2023, and had an assist in his last NHL game, a 4-2 win at the Kings on October 21, 2023.
Lucic Ends on His Terms
Lucic’s retirement closes a career that ended after his final NHL appearance in October 2023 and included stops in Boston, Los Angeles, Edmonton and Calgary. In his statement, he said, "Looking back on my career, I feel truly grateful to have fulfilled my dream of playing professional hockey, culminating with a Stanley Cup win in 2011 with the Boston Bruins," and added that he wants to "especially thank the Bruins for giving me my start in professional hockey and for instilling the confidence to reach new heights as a player."
He also thanked Los Angeles, Edmonton and Calgary, along with his agent, Gerry Johannson, his family and his wife Brittany. The career line is blunt: 1,177 games, 586 points, 233 goals and 353 assists, with the championship in Boston still the defining piece.
